Nomos AG
Auction 26 21 May 2023
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LYDIA. Uncertain mint. Ifes or Ibfes, circa 425-400 BC. Hemiobol (Silver, 8 mm, 0.43 g, 6 h). Youthful male head to left. Rev. 𐤦𐤡] 𐤱𐤤𐤩𐤦𐤪] (ibfelim in Lydian) Sprouting grain of wheat. M. Egetmeyer: Eine neue Münze mit lydischer Inschrift, in: Kadmos 51 (2012), Heft 1, 175-178, illustration 1-2 = Gemini VIII (2011), 98 (but misattributed to Salamis on Cyprus). Leu Numismatik Winterthur, e20, 2022, 1212 (same dies). A sharp and well-preserved coin, with a fascinating story. Extremely fine.
From the "Collection sans Pareille" of Ancient Greek Fractions, ex Hauck & Aufhäuser 14, 6 October 1998, 77.
Coins of this type, with a male head on the obverse and a wheat or barley grain accompanied by a Lydian inscription on the reverse, have only appeared on the market, albeit variously identified, over the past two decades. They also have been variously dated: 450/425-400 BC; 5th century BC; 5th-4th century BC; 420/400-380 BC; and, here, to c. 425-400 BC! Stylistically the male head on the obverse is not much help: they range from fairly rough and crude (as this one, though there are others that are even ruder), to quite polished (as the hemiobol that appeared as lot 422 in Obolos 22 in 2022); this probably has no chronological meaning and solely pertains to the skill of the die engraver. In any case, the date has to be around 400 BC. As for the inscription, which usually reads ifelim, but on the Obolos piece reads ibfelim, can be translated as I belong to Ifes (Ibfes). What we do not know is who Ifes/Ibfes was - though the fact that only hemiobols and tetartemoria are known for him, with no larger denominations, makes it likely that he was of only local importance.
From the "Collection sans Pareille" of Ancient Greek Fractions, ex Hauck & Aufhäuser 14, 6 October 1998, 77.
Coins of this type, with a male head on the obverse and a wheat or barley grain accompanied by a Lydian inscription on the reverse, have only appeared on the market, albeit variously identified, over the past two decades. They also have been variously dated: 450/425-400 BC; 5th century BC; 5th-4th century BC; 420/400-380 BC; and, here, to c. 425-400 BC! Stylistically the male head on the obverse is not much help: they range from fairly rough and crude (as this one, though there are others that are even ruder), to quite polished (as the hemiobol that appeared as lot 422 in Obolos 22 in 2022); this probably has no chronological meaning and solely pertains to the skill of the die engraver. In any case, the date has to be around 400 BC. As for the inscription, which usually reads ifelim, but on the Obolos piece reads ibfelim, can be translated as I belong to Ifes (Ibfes). What we do not know is who Ifes/Ibfes was - though the fact that only hemiobols and tetartemoria are known for him, with no larger denominations, makes it likely that he was of only local importance.